Fante's Kitchen Shop – Since 1906

Silverwood Battenberg Cake Pan Instructions

The traditional Battenberg Cake is a Genovese (Italian sponge cake) covered with marzipan (almond paste). When cut, it reveals its alternating color checkerboard pattern of pink and yellow.

The most common tale about this cake is that it was named in honor of the marriage of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter (Also named Victoria) to Prince Louis Battenberg in 1884. Though its actual origins may never be known, Battenberg cake has become one of the most popular tea-time treats in the UK, with thousands sold every week. Now you can easily make your own with our bespoke pan.

Complete with full recipe details, the new pan can make a traditional Battenberg cake, or with a little ingenuity can be used to produce numerous “checkerboard” variations.

Method
BEFORE USE: Wash the pan in hot soapy water, rinse and dry.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C (350 F) Gas mark 4.
Assemble, grease and flour the Battenberg pan, and set aside.
1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
2. Gradually add the beaten eggs.
3. Fold in the flour.
4. Divide the mixture into two equal halves.
5. Put a few drops of pink food coloring into one half of the mixture and gently mix until an even color is achieved.
6. Spoon the pink mixture into two sections of the tin, and the plain mixture into the other two sections.
7. Place in the center of the oven and bake for approximately 30 – 35 minutes, or until evenly colored and firm to the touch.
8. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
9. If the cake has risen above the top of the tin, use a serrated knife to cut across the top to remove excess cake.
10. Remove the cake from the tin.
11. When completely cold, brush the apricot jam onto the long sides of the cakes and join one plain and one pink slice together and then one pink and one plain on top creating a checkered pattern.
12. Now brush the apricot jam over all the long sides.
13. Roll out the marzipan on some caster sugar making a rectangle approx 20 x 30cm (8 x12″).
14. Neaten the edges.
15. Place the cake onto the marzipan so the one edge is lined up to the edge of the marzipan and completely wrap the marzipan around the cake.
16. Trim away any surplus marzipan and to make a neat cake, just trim both ends with a clean knife.
17. The top edges of the cake can be decorated with crimpers if desired.
N.B. The pink color can be substituted with chocolate or lemon.
Keep in an airtight container for up to a week.